Harassment in the workplace — policies or dialogue — where do we start?

Why are we still talking about sexual harassment in the 21st century? Every now and then, a sexual harassment account takes the media by storm, but these accounts are not one-off. The findings of the The Elephant in the Valley survey, found that 60% of 200+ women in tech surveyed, experienced unwanted sexual advances in Silicon Valley. Uber engineer Susan Fowler’s case of harassment adds evidence to the broader pattern of sexual harassment that exists in workplaces around the world. It is baffling that even in highly developed countries where education, technology and governments have allowed women and men to excel if not equally but to a great extent, gender inequality still exists in the workplace.

Harassment faced by women in the workplace is a global problem. Case in point: Google Trends show the world “sexual harassment” peaked in popularity between February 26 — May 20, 2017 worldwide!

In the Indian context, the challenges women face are inextricably linked to the social norms and history specific to India. Sexual harassment is not a new problem and was the primary campaign for women’s movements in the 1980–1990s. The notion that women are the “weaker sex” contributes to the unconscious or conscious gender bias about their competence in the workplace, which sometimes could trigger jokes, comments and sexual advances. It is interesting to note that, nearly 50 percent of women in technology in India leave the employment pipeline at the junior to mid-level.

It is also worrying that sexual harassment is often underreported. Earlier this year, a survey by the Indian National Bar Association (INBA), of the 6,047 participants (both male and female) surveyed, 38% had faced harassment at the workplace and 69% of them did not complain about it. This is understandable, as we often lack the confidence in the organisation to handle such an issue comprehensively and fear retaliation. It is also a matter where one can be easily judged by the broader community and last but not the least it might lead to missing out on future promotions or eventually being forced to quit the company.

Harassment takes many forms, it could be a) deliberate, where the person is aware that he/she is making the other person uncomfortable or b) when there is a disconnect or lack of sensitivity on what constitutes harassment? For instance, a very personal compliment to a woman on her clothes or hair might be completely ok in one cultural setting but inappropriate in another. The same way, a peck on the cheek might be an acceptable way of greeting each other in some countries but it might not work in the Indian context. Social norms many a times dictate what may or may not constitute harassment.

Data is proof that no company, a startup or an MNC in San Francisco or Bengaluru, is immune to this problem. There is no denying that even today, in several businesses locker room banter still exists, a culture of men bragging prevails and is generally categorised as “It’s just how guys talk. It doesn’t mean anything. This is all in good fun!” This needs to change…

In the case of early stage startups, the situation is definitely more sensitive. With dozens of competing priorities — fundraising, hacking growth and fighting for survival, a sexual harassment policy is unlikely to be high priority. Often, founders hire and promote friends and people similar to them, early company culture is likely to be informal and casual, which might be the best environment to foster innovation and hustle. It could well happen that this group of like-minded pre-dominantly male members suddenly gain immense power, opportunity and wealth. And before long, they might feel like they are above the law! These settings may create immunity to engage in “for fun” comments or unwanted propositions. In such environments, it is even more likely that women under-report harassment incidents fearing consequences in a close-knit startup community or disruption to the fast paced work culture. And when reported, the founding team may choose not to fire or reprimand colleagues who are college friends and who might be more critical to the company than the victim. In cases where founders or CEOs commit offenses, it can be almost impossible for women to find justice. In the early days, there is simply no HR department, it all comes down to the moral fabric of the founding team. Founders and early employees eat together, work together or even live together. Early employees observe founders’ behaviour, taking behavioural cues from them. However, an intimate, laid-back or open culture is no excuse for harassment.

Most founders I know want to do the right thing, but what should they do to build a harassment free culture? It is critical to first have clarity on what the “right thing is” and the integrity to stand up to it.

“A leader doesn’t just get the message across; he is the message.” — Warren Bennis

While workplace policies and regulations are a starting point, preventive policies and redressal mechanisms are put to test when crisis knocks on the door. And when these fail, the severe damage to business and reputation is often irreversible. Lest we think these problems are limited to startups, I recall one incident when I was a younger professional, that made me very aware of how pervasive this problem is.

The scandal surrounding Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, a respected leadership guru and Suzy Wetlaufer, ex-editor at Harvard Business Review (HBR) is the perfect example that questioned the bias in how a respected institution dealt with crisis surrounding its star employee. Suzy Wetlaufer was the star at HBR those days, their best foot forward for influential interviews and articles with the top industry moguls. Wetlaufer’s interview-turned-romance with the married Welch costed HBR a lot as much it impacted Jack Welch. The drama tested the ethical fabric of HBR and GE, demoralized and embarrassed the staff. When the affair was first reported, Suzy was not immediately let go, she just stepped down as editor despite compromising her journalistic integrity. At least six editors at HBR called for Wetlaufer’s resignation and eventually two staff editors quit in protest. A key learning from this example — organizations must be prepared to deal with such crises. Establish clear organisational guidelines and protocols, be vigilant and review these from time to time. Most importantly ensure there are enforcement mechanisms in place that are applicable to all and treats every offender the same way.

As an effective leader and founder, have you been involved and invested in developing the culture code of your organization — how often does respect for women feature on the list? How often do you ask the question

“Are we building a safe and comfortable environment for both men and women to thrive without bias and harassment?”

In her book Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg provides an example of the parking situation at Google when she was pregnant with her first child in 2004. After struggling to find a parking spot before an important sales meeting, Sheryl approached Google founders and asked for pregnancy parking. They agreed immediately without having to be persuaded. Both Sheryl and Sergey wondered why this hadn’t occurred to them before? Sheryl was especially embarrassed that she only noticed this when it happened to her? So, why didn’t the other pregnant women at Google raise this? Was it about seniority or confidence? While this does not demonstrate harassment but it demonstrates the need for sensitivity and dialogue. Are we sensitive to our employees’ needs? Are we creating an atmosphere where our employees feel empowered to engage in dialogue?

As the founding team, a few things you can do or start doing to create a harassment free environment :

Clarity — on what constitutes harassment? Be very clear on what harassment means to you and your organisation. Draft a meaningful and actionable sexual harassment policy not just one that ticks the boxes and ensure your company’s code of conduct ties into this policy. Founders could leverage the experience of their board members to draw up an effective policy. Set up an intuitive and practical redressal mechanism, make it crystal clear — in case of a crisis, who do you go to file a report? Who will conduct the independent investigation? What is the role of the Internal Complaints Committee?

Communication — How will you introduce this topic to your organization? Is it useful to start with a survey to gauge the inherent biases people bring to work and share the results in an all hands? Is this a survey you conduct and measure every quarter? As a founder always keep your eyes and ears open — observe team dynamics in meetings where diverse teams meet, allow time for water cooler conversations, make yourself approachable and keep lines of communication open. When an employee steps forward and voices their opinion about what they saw, heard or experienced, reward their initiative to speak up. Employees must feel empowered to speak up and that will happen when the founding teams lead by example

Crisis management — just like large buildings have fire drills to ensure fire safety preparedness, as a founder you need to be prepared today for what might happen tomorrow. An organization is judged most harshly on its response in handling of a sexual harassment claim. In case of a crises, take each claim seriously and ensure it is investigated fairly and in consultation with the board who should be informed. Again your organizational guidelines and protocol should clearly define this. Don’t hesitate to take outside help in conducting the investigation. Be empathetic with the affected employee — put yourself in the employee’s shoes, be sensitive to their needs and seek fairness on their behalf. Defensiveness should be replaced with transparency. Ensure to walk the talk when crisis hits the doorstep, will you be ready to act on the principles you set out?

I strongly believe India’s technology ecosystem is young enough to be shaped into one where sexual harassment is a thing of the past — this is our opportunity to build the organizations of tomorrow, the right way…

There is a Vedic saying,

“Where women are worshiped, there the gods dwell.”

Nothing should stop us from adopting this into the startup context as well “Where women are respected, valued and given equal opportunities, companies will excel, thrive and attract the best talent”.

Young women often ask me about managing work life balance, breaking glass ceilings, and dealing with workplace harassment. At home my two daughters frequently discuss their gender based experiences, struggles of being strong outspoken women and challenges in navigating complex situations. These discussions have made me more reflective than ever before. Until a decade ago, I thought and claimed I have never faced harassment. But that is probably not true; in retrospect what might be true is that I probably swept these under the carpet subconsciously.

Based on my experiences I can highlight three incidents thatI did not pay as much attention to because I believed I needed to accept some things I personally couldn’t change…

Travelling in public bus system from age of 10–21 — Needless to say, every woman has had their share of unwanted advances on a bus. During my time and I believe even today the problem women face is the inability to speak up and the fear of calling attention to oneself when something happens. But this is exactly why young women are preyed upon and bystanders rarely ever come to the rescue. Like me many women get through this everyday and an unfortunate few end up paying a very high price. Public safety is certainly not taken for granted by most Indian women. But the question is — is this the legacy and society we want for our children?

Competence questions — I remember when I closed a big sales deal at work, I was thrilled and called my office to share the news. One of my colleagues said “Wow what did you do to win this, sleep with the client?” Though said in jest, I did not have a great comeback to express how disheartened that comment made me feel. These comments usually came from the person’s insensitivity and maybe even deep seated bias about the competence of women. And like many of my predecessors my solution was to continue working hard, putting in the hours and believe no one thought less of me because I am a woman

Sexual Harassment Crisis at Work — an office affair became a harassment crisis. After an investigation, the solution suggested was the male employee who was a Senior employee and critical to the company be simply warned, and the woman who was an executive assistant i.e. less critical, is let go. The logic presented — it was best to protect the interest of the company and someone even said, “Men always chase skirts, this woman probably has herself to blame”! I ended up firing both the employees because this was a clear violation of our HR policies and not a popularity contest. Not everyone supported my decision. Gender based consequences are different for both and men and women in organizations unless the leadership is vigilant about the choices they make and examples they set.

These examples are not about direct harassment but are situational where one needs to take a stand and do the right thing. But it is easier said than done, when I put myself in the shoes of younger women and men today and play out the same situations in my head, they are likely to be more vulnerable, or less leveraged in their careers currently to speak up. We need to change that, and I beleive that can happen when we create awareness and initiate a dialogue on these issues. We need to focus our efforts on building a culture of empowerment in the startup ecosystem to ensure the next generation of Indian companies are built on a sound foundation.

In keeping with this spirit of dialogue, Kalaari Capital and Your Story are hosting a seminar — “Together For Change — Empowering Women in the Workplace”, on the 19th of July at Kstart Bangalore, to bring together the brightest and most committed minds across startups, venture capitalists, government and key influencers from the startup ecosystem and start a much needed conversation.